• Corhen@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Funny and all, but interesting, the life span of appliences has remained fairly steady: https://studyfinds.org/appliances-made-to-last/

    The study (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/EWYZVBTQDFJXHTV9PPUQ?target=10.1111%2Fjiec.13608) found that most appliances last a similar number of years, and that the number of cycles each appliance lasts has increased (ie we use them more often). notable exception was a stove.

    Basically, survivorship bias.

    • TeddE@lemmy.world
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      23 hours ago

      Microsoft just basically tried to force most everyone using a Windows 10 system to purchase a new system, ostensibly over a flaw/shortcoming in the TPM module.

      Samsung just started pushing advertisements into their fridge’s Android displays.

      Apple and the mobile ISPs have been pushing a ‘replace every two years’ agenda for well over a decade.

      I think the ‘short life span’ here has more to do with the ‘modern CPU fridge controller’ “failing” due to planned obsolescence, and not as such the mechanics of the refrigerant systems themselves.

      • Corhen@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        I mean, sure? but pretty much everyone of your examples is about general computing, and while i HATE the samsung fridge thing… it doesnt mean it will die any earlier.

        • TeddE@lemmy.world
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          20 hours ago

          Yes, but these new smart fridges are just classic fridges with a general purpose computer attached. Do you think Samsung is going to offer a replacement/upgrade kit for the embedded tablet, or do you think they’ll use it as leverage to sell you a new fridge?

          • Corhen@lemmy.world
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            Still doesn’t change when the physical components are likely to die.

            You are telling me I’m going to have to replace my car because it’s infotainment unit is out of date.

    • Ydna@lemmy.world
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      My mom’s Sammy washer from 2021 ended up with a damaged control board. The part is no longer available, she ended up buying a while new one 😬

    • BlackPenguins@lemmy.world
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      Yeah knowing them they’ll need to be hooked up to the internet and have mandatory apps. Also they steal the data of the food you eat.

      • RagingRobot@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        I got one of those and they had to replace it twice before it even worked I just sent it back and got a bosch

        • UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world
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          22 hours ago

          I ended up getting a used LG dishwasher and it work really well, but during kitchen renovations I think dust got into the motor, it got noisy, ran being noisy for a couple year and it got rid of it, but it still worked. My parent LG fridge broke multiple times under warranty, never ran right and was related to the lg linear compressor lawsuit. I have a GE dishwasher now that seems okay, but the cycle is over 3hr!

    • inzen@lemmy.world
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      Im not saying buy Samsung but my two fridges, one 5+ years and one closer to 9 years still work. No idea about other appliances. In Europe.

      • RagingRobot@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        The only problem I had with my Samsung fridge was that the shelves kept breaking. They were expensive to replace too and kept breaking. Eventually I installed a wooden shelf haha that lasted way longer than their plastic. Looked rustic too haha

        It was always cold though. Never stopped working

  • MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip
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    I think i’ve read something about it. What with the nozzle wands in the compressor needing to be thinner (more fragile) for the efficiency requirements.

    Maybe we are beyound the sweet spot? Beause creating a new fridge all 2 years isn’t efficient either.

  • tehmics@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Hear me out: cover it in foil tape, like the kind used for HVAC. instant “modern” fridge

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    We had a $2k fridge that broke within a few years of owning it. We got it fairly discounted due to a dent in the side.

    Our $150 fridge from Sears is still in the garage, and still runs perfectly after owning it for 13 years. Looks pretty much like the one in the pic.

  • ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works
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    Our old fridge still works but the icemaker and water dispenser broke and then started to spray outside and leak inside if connected.

    But we kept it and put it in the garage and keep beverages in it. Man does it feel opulent to have a garage drink fridge.

    Kind of like when I became able to afford paper towels. Pure wealth and extravagance.

      • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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        Actually, it doesn’t. Supposed to spray water and then vacuum it up. That feature works half the time.

    • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.worldOP
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      Ugh all appliances are such crap now. I want an old vacuum that lasts a lifetime from the 80s. They were much better.

        • LordKitsuna@lemmy.world
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          Was surprised to see this here. But yes absolutely, they are expensive don’t get me wrong. But they are worth it. Their shit just works, i have their washer and heat pump dryer, dishwasher, and CX1 canister vacuum. Each are the best version of that thing I’ve ever used. Dishwasher will clean anything no rinse/soak needed even for baked on pasta or cheese, vacuum is powerful but also shockingly quiet, dryer sips power (700w avg load) but dries everything just fine.

          Had em for the years now, i am NOT gentle with the vacuum i drag it outside to clean the car and other various things it’s not really for, toss it around use it as a footstool sometimes and it shows no signs of the wear. You get what you pay for with them

          • Junkers_Klunker@feddit.dk
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            Miele makes just as many shitty products as anyone else, their “top of the line” and industrial products are great though. Same thing with Bosch and Siemens.

      • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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        Same make and model as the last one. The first lasted about ten years, the second didn’t make it ten months.

    • aeronmelon@lemmy.world
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      Dysons are the first vacuum cleaner that I don’t actively loath. They’re not perfect, but they’re built to… actually work well.

        • Nolvamia@lemmy.world
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          Been through this.

          After an allergy test revealed that I had a dust allergy I bought a Dyson to replace our cheap generic vacuum cleaner and thought it was the bee’s knees. Then the power switch went. And it would clog the power head constantly. Then, at about 10 years old it packed it in completely when the motor died.

          Replaced that with a Miele which hasn’t missed a beat. So much so we bought a second when we moved into our current house (one for upstairs, one for downstairs, I’m lazy). In terms of suction they are the same or better, but ergonomically they shit all over the Dyson. Not as purple though.

        • aeronmelon@lemmy.world
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          That isn’t my experience. Bought two, one six years ago, one three years ago, both still work perfectly. Sold one of them recently for half what I paid for it.

          First I’ve heard of Miele. I’ll look into it, but the reason why I got Dysons in the first place was constantly hearing others rave about them.

          • Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca
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            On my second Dyson, not sure why I bought a second one. Thing is always getting jammed up with hair and needs complete disassembly to clean it out, and batteries will only last two years before needing replacement. All the joints are very loose as well now. Will be going with the Miele HX2 at some point soon which is actually cheaper than some of the Dyson.

            • VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              From experience, the filtering cyclones in the mieles are quite a bit worse than the Dyson.

              If you want a good and lasting vacuum, don’t buy a cordless one. When looking at corded vacuums, miele is definitely one of the better options.

            • Rooster326@programming.dev
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              The cordless sticks, and stick vacuums in general are not built to be BIFL. Doesn’t matter what brand you get.

              Read the reviews. HX2 isn’t that much better reviewed and it costs a hell of a lot more.

      • heythatsprettygood@feddit.uk
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        The old Dysons are way better than whatever the hell they’re doing nowadays. I could genuinely feel the difference in the plastic quality when I moved from an older DC 39 to a newer Big Ball (the Big Ball’s is significantly worse). Not to mention the Big Ball has gone through two roller heads (both had the mechanism break). No wonder their newer cordless models have a 2 year warranty instead of the old corded 5 year. They used to be really good, if a bit expensive, but now the options from Bosch and Miele look far more attractive.

      • Daveyborn@lemmy.world
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        Bought a refurbished stick one about 8 years ago and its still going strong after a battery replacement (its modified to use my power tool batteries now, same voltage so no hassle). I’m just happy I can get replacement parts easily.

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        I’ve had mixed results. Mine started becoming far less efficient after about 3 years. I tried regular maintenance to no avail, and I took it completely apart and cleaned the venturi. It got kinda better. Then a year later, I used it to vacuum up some curry powder, and from then on it smelled incredibly strong of curry.

        It still wasn’t cleaning all that well. It had stopped picking up pet hair, then the high-speed bearing started making noise. Taking the lower assembly apart was way too involved and the replacement motor itself would be 1/4 of the price I paid.

        I ended up getting a cheap bagless Shark at costco. Self cleaning brushes, cheap two-stage filter. Thing runs like new 4 years in.

        I’d rather have gotten a Miele, but the price just wasn’t in the cards at the moment.

        I do think their stick vacs are a little better though

  • BromSwolligans@lemmy.world
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    3-year-old fridge went out two weeks ago. Guy finally showed up to put the compressor in today. Left and it started rattling. Help.

    • ERPAdvocate@sh.itjust.works
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      If you’re being serious try shimming it, determine where the noise is and chuck a block between. My brand new Whirlpool rattles because the floor is uneven so I have a small piece of wood between the floor and front bottom piece which takes care of it.

      • BromSwolligans@lemmy.world
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        I am lol. It sound like a loose belt in a car motor just slapping rapidly. I may look into your idea (and thank you), but since we bought it it has been through two homes and many positions on the kitchen floor and the sound never occurred before this technician got in there and replaced the compressor. I’m not confident it’s the position. Sounds like something loose deep inside.

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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    You can still buy high quality, lasts a lifetime, refrigerators. We have grown accustomed to $400 refrigerators that will last five to ten years worth of doing a piss poor job (freezing some areas while not cooling others). A “buy it for life”, excellent refrigerator of equal size will run you $10k+. Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.

    • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.

      Unless they live to be 170+ (assuming they’re 20 when they buy their own fridge) the $400 one every 5 years is definitely a better deal than one that lasts a lifetime and costs 30x as much.

      • village604@adultswim.fan
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        $10k is definitely hyperbolic, but the “built for life” refrigerators were about $2k in today’s dollars.

        • arrow74@lemmy.zip
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          And see 2k is a good price. I would spend that on a well made fridge.

          The options however are piss poor cheap fridge for $400, fridge with a bunch of fancy crap but no real improvement in life/performance for $2,000, or a fridge that is high quality for north of $5,000.

      • marcos@lemmy.world
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        That’s ignoring all the problems created by those fridges failing at random.

        Still, the GP’s ratio is wild. There’s no way a fridge that lasts a lifetime costs 30x more to make. It’s all monopoly practices.

    • falseWhite@lemmy.world
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      “$10k+”

      Do you think that’s how much those refrigerators used to cost? They were “$100+”.

      This isn’t a good comparison. No one in the working class and probably even the middle class can afford a 10k+ refrigerator.

      Of course there are good quality products, but it’s not like normal people can afford them anymore.

      This is not what people “opt” to buy. This is all that people can afford to buy.

      • Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca
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        As a mechanic, I had a Miele in my condo, and now have a Bosch Benchmark (both built ins with custom panels) in my new house. Both were $10k+.

        • falseWhite@lemmy.world
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          Cool, you have a house and a $10k+ refrigerator.

          Maybe one day when I can afford a house I will also be able to afford a $10k+ refrigerator. I’m not holding my breath though.

            • falseWhite@lemmy.world
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              You are rich.

              Edit: nothing wrong with being rich, as long as you are not a wealth hoarding billionaire. Just admit it you are rich, and I could fully believe that you earned it through hard work. It’s not completely impossible, but extremely rare and difficult, whereas it used to be that every single person working could afford a house and a $100+ refrigerator that would last 40 years.

              • Ryanmiller70@lemmy.zip
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                Nah there’s A LOT wrong with being rich when people are starving and homeless. You don’t have to be a billionaire to be an asshole with your wealth.

                • Ryanmiller70@lemmy.zip
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                  There it is. Probably won’t take much to hear you say “most that can’t afford it simply didn’t try as hard as me and the people I know cause hard work is all you need”.

                • falseWhite@lemmy.world
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                  Good. All the boomers also earned their cheap ass houses and they were normal working or middle class people.

                  Doesn’t change the fact that this is no longer a reality today.

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
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      You don’t need to go that far for a fridge. Just buy the most generic, ugly-ass freezer on the top unit without an icemaker or water dispensor. Almost every brand still makes one.

      The primary failure modes of the current fridges are primarily related to the extreme lengths we go to in order to install ice makers in the door and freezers on the bottom. You put the freezer in the top with a temp sensor and just gate how much air is allowed to flow down into the fridge with a physical baffle, all you need to go right is a single pressure loop, a shitty compressor, a thermometer, a capacitor you can replace, maybe a PTC thermistor or a relay.

      Clothes washers and dryers are an excellent use for your advice, though. You need to get something around the quality of a Speed Queen to get that done. Almost no features, sturdy buttons, and few electronics. But we want front-opening washers that require perfect seals and fancy door locks, with 200 options for every possible situation. Those door locks and gaskets wear down, and those horizontal drums don’t stay balanced well.

      Dishwashers are a whole different problem. Commercial versions are either specialized for a certain type of dish or are just a human with a dish rag and a sponge.

      I have the most generic POS dishwasher. It fails every two years because the wash pump gives out. It has three timer cycles, a heated dry, a wash pump, a drain pump, a turbidity sensor, and a float sensor. Every two years, I pop onto Amazon and buy another $30 circulator pump, I can install it now in about 10 minutes and leave the wrench required to do it under the sink.

      What’s the cause? it’s a 30/10 pump, supposed to run for 30 minutes and cool for 10. The washer runs it for 45/5 twice. I cannot get a direct replacement that can handle those constraints, so it eventually stops working or runs poorly enough to get the dishes clean, and I replace it.

      I’ve considered replacing the brain with an arduino or a pi. Would be kinda cool to really lean into the turbitity sensor and just wash until clean or text me when it’s done.

      • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
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        I’ve had a generic dishwasher for 20 years and Ir hasn’t needed more than a filter cleaning the whole time. Crazy.

        • rumba@lemmy.zip
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          Ohh yeah, the old ones were awesome. They used to install macerators in the pump wells to grind up any debris that might bypass the filter and had motors that could go all day long.

          I had a 90’s whirlpool at my old place that probably got scrapped directly after I sold it. It stopped cleaning all that well once, I took it apart and cleaned all the bits, put it back together and it kicked ass like the day I moved in, I used it almost every day for 15 years.

      • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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        I mostly use the simple, freezer on top, refrigerators. In the past (maybe 15 years ago), they did a good enough job. Lately I have noticed that the cold air distribution to the refrigerator has been terrible. In some units, food places in the back of the fridge will freeze while the front remains cool rather than cold. Other units show the same issue but top versus bottom. I feel like a tiny fan to help distribute the air would fix it.

        I do want a Subzero but, Jesus…they are so expensive.

        • rumba@lemmy.zip
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          I bet you could fish a small 12v pc van in there, wire running near the light or the door switch.

        • rumba@lemmy.zip
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          will keep everything cold for day

          Shout out for TC, I watch everything he posts.

          I have one! a HUGE one! it sips power all year long. It also has a compressor small enough that you can run it off a really tiny UPS and go for AGES without grid.

          • Rooster326@programming.dev
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            A UPS really? Dam going to have to check my wattage now. That is a brilliant idea.

            We have hurricanes often enough that power loss is a regular issue.

            • rumba@lemmy.zip
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              mine works on a 1500va, haven’t tested runtime but it can def run on it for quite some time the i accidentally popped the breaker from another outlet and didn’t know it for two days, it was still running.

    • Sneezycat@sopuli.xyz
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      Do they come with a lifetime guarantee too? Because it’d be next to impossible for most working class people to spend that kind of money on a fridge; but even if they could, do they have a guarantee that it’s not going to be broken trash in 5/10/20 years like a cheaper fridge?

      If you spend 400€ at least you know you can afford to buy a new one when/if it breaks.

      • Tja@programming.dev
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        Liebherr makes fridges with 10 years of warranty for about 20% more than cheap brands. Super happy with mine. Nice features and efficiency too.

        BSH is also supposed to build good appliances. Our old dishwasher from Neff was 20+ years old when we sold our apartment and you could still find manuals and replacement parts on the official website. A heat exchanger, a huge and complex part was like 100€. Fridge too: a drawer broke and we bought a replacement for around 15€.

        In the US they are sold under the Bosch brand AFAIK.

    • Botzo@lemmy.world
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      This is the debate we had when redoing our kitchen. It hurt me to add $8k to the bill (the difference) just for the fridge, but it really is genuinely a different experience. At least it came with a 6 year manufacturer warranty too.

      The drawers glide smoothly on real hinges with a soft close, the shelves are individually lit and glass, what plastic there is is thicker and smoother. Everything is easy to adjust or remove for cleaning. It even has a cartridge that removes ethylene gas and produce stays noticeably much fresher.

      And as a bonus, I got to support a union manufacturer in the US (subzero).

    • village604@adultswim.fan
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      You don’t even need to spend that much. A $2k fridge will last a very long time, especially if you properly maintain it.

      Hell, my $600 appliances are still going strong after 8 years, and the only repairs I’ve had to make are on the dryer because my wife burnt out the coil by abusing it (dewrinkling one article of clothing by running it on high for 30min). But it was $30 for the coil assembly with replacement sensors included.